Sunday, November 1, 2009

Which is Better and Why?

There was a time when there was no substitute for a desktop personal computer. However, with the advancement of technology laptops were introduced as a great substitute for desktop PC. Though it is true that a large number of people use laptops now days, it cannot be denied that desktop computers are still used in many homes and offices. In this article, we will discuss advantages and disadvantages of one over the other and vice versa.

Laptop computers are best for those people who need a computer with them for almost 24 hours a day. A desktop cannot be carried by an individual with him. A laptop requires very less space. While a desktop needs a large space as compared to a laptop. If your laptop has some problem, you can easily carry it in your hands to the service center. However, if a problem occurs in a desktop computer, it becomes really inconvenient to carry it to the service center. This is because C.P.U and desktop monitors are bulky.

However, we should not ignore that a desktop computer has several advantages over a laptop. First, unlike laptops, desktop computers are less expensive. Second, Desktop computers are not as sensitive as laptops. Even a slight shock can work disaster for a laptop. Third, the cost of servicing related with a desktop computer is always less than that of a laptop. For instance, if the keyboard of a computer stops working, you can purchase a new one. However, if the keypad of a laptop stops working, you will have to submit it to the authorized service center and pay a good amount of money to get it rectified.

Email to SMS Services?

There are a variety of company types that utilise email to sms services and in this article we'll look at some of the most prominent. As the name suggests 'email to sms' services convert emails messages into sms messages that can be sent to anyone, be they an employee, associate or potential customer.

While these are the main uses, email to sms can also be used as an automated alert service for computer systems/servers for when a certain event happens, either positive of negative. Most of the companies that offer the service allow you to send these messages via email applications such as Gmail, IBM Lotus Notes, Outlook - or any number of other email setups.

Let's look at some of the companies that make use of these services. They are particularly helpful for companies that have employees who are on the move a great deal. Electricians, for example, could make use of these messages, especially if they are a large company with a lot of vans and people. From a main office these messages can be sent out to electricians while they are still 'out on the road'. They can safely view the message with the next customer's address on it, minimising the time wasted.

When a group of people need to get the same message - perhaps for a promotion or as communication with employees - one message can be sent in bulk to all of them at the same time.

SMS marketing is one of the major growing areas of email to sms services. There have been some notable success stories with this, as it does give reminders of deals or offers or events to customers who have signed up to receive them. The downside of this is that some people get annoyed with receiving messages - although they can often have the messages switched off.

Another one of the main reasons that people like using email to sms systems is that creating messages the traditional way is time consuming and difficult- and for those with poor sight can be even more difficult. Using a keyboard to input such messages can be much quicker than this.

It is usual for the firms that offer these services to offer the sale of batches of text messages. There are a wide range of email to sms services available today, in the UK and in indeed around the world. Many firms use such services because in the long run they are much cheaper than traditional sms services.

Is My IP Blacklisted?

There are a many spam cops on the internet who maintain anti-spam database. Mail servers, ISPs and bandwidth providers get blacklists from these databases and use them in their spam filters. Domains and IP addresses that are known to send spam emails are blacklisted immediately and added to the database. When a mail server finds that a mail comes from one of these blacklist sites, then the email will not be delivered to the recipient.

Many times, the IP address of your hosting provider may be in the blacklist and as a result, your emails may not be delivered. You may be wondering why is my IP blacklisted even though I pay the required amount. Your IP getting blacklisted is not your fault because spammers use IP addresses of other legitimate persons to conceal their own identity. Without even your knowledge, you may become a victim of such a spammer and your IP may get blacklisted.

Just because your IP is blacklisted by a mail server, it doesn't mean that you can never reach that subscriber. Blacklisting simply means that your email won't be delivered directly. You can contact the mail server and request to whitelist your IP address. If the provider is able to trust that you are not a spammer, then your IP address will be removed from the anti-spam database and the changes will reflect globally in one or two days.

If you want an answer to the question is my IP blacklisted, you have to do blacklist test. Some servers may allow your IP address while some others may blacklist it. You can know about those servers only when you compare your IP address against known blacklists. Since it is not possible for you to go and check every blacklist available, you should use a mail tracking tool to do this task.

Domain is Blacklisted

Spammers are always looking for doorways to send spam emails. If your exchange server is an open relay which can easily help spammers to pass through, then many mail servers and ISPs will blacklist your domain. When you find out that your domain is blacklisted, you should take steps in removing your domain from that list so that your subscribers can receive your mail without fail. However, finding whether your domain is in the blacklist is the tricky part here and it can't be done without a proper tracking tool.

Spammers use spoofing to conceal their original identity. When your ip address or domain is used by spammers consistently to send out emails, then it is obvious that mail servers will consider your ip address and domain to be a spam. Popular domains are also commonly used for spoofing, but since the servers are aware of those domains, the whole domain will not be blacklisted. When your less known domain is in blacklist sites, mail servers will immediately blacklist the whole domain.

The only way to pass blacklist test is when you have your domain name is in the whitelist. Mail servers update their blacklist sites from time to time. When you contact the mail servers and prove them that your domain is not a spam, then you can whitelist your exchange server. However, after whitelisting, you should follow procedures to prevent spammers from using your exchange server to send spam emails.

Knowing domain is blacklisted is very crucial to take the next course of action. A proper mail monitoring and tracking tool which ensures email deliverability will check your domains and ip addresses against major blacklists popularly used by mail servers. All your emails will be tested against blacklists and any dispute will be reported to you. With this report, you can take steps to whitelist your domain to get in touch with your subscribers.

Check Blacklists

Blacklists are found in thousands on the internet. Some of these blacklists are available for free while many providers buy authenticate blacklists from various legitimate internet monitoring groups. Basically, these blacklists contain ip addresses and information about emails used by spammers. IP addresses of mail services sending out spam emails will also be included in the blacklists. Simply, all kinds of blacklist sites will be available in blacklists.

ISPs and bandwidth providers will check blacklists before delivering any email. IP address of the sender is checked against blacklist used by the provider. It is not possible to find out what list is used by the ISP and bandwidth provider. Aside from public blacklists, companies will have private blacklists for more detailed checking.

Blacklist test is employed by email monitoring tools. These tools will use available known blacklists to perform the test. When your IP address is blacklisted in any of those known lists, you will be notified. Groups that are interested in keeping the internet clean will be engaged in creating these blacklists and hence, if you contact them, you can get your ip address whitelisted.

Many entrepreneurs lose their subscribers mainly because they don't check blacklists. While it is practically impossible to manually check your IP address against blacklisted list of IP addresses, a tracking tool can be of great help. If you think that you have to spend a great deal of money to buy a monitoring tool, then you are wrong. You can easily find a good email monitoring and tracking software that can help you in doing all kinds of blacklist tests.

The tool you use for checking blacklists must constantly update itself because everyday, many new domains and dns are added to the blacklists by internet users. Also, the tool must be able to use as many blacklists available to increase email deliverability.